Convertible false floor



Jam. 2, E923, LMIUIAY@ J, W. LIFPINCOTT.

CONVERTIBLE FALSE FLOOR.

FILED OCT. 9, 1922. 3 sHEETs-sHEET I III L5 /2 l f IV Hi II III III III

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II-f-/f-j/ I Jam.. 2. 1923.,

J. W. LIPPINCOTT. CONVERTIBLE FALSE FLOOR.

OCT. 9. 1922.,

FILED Jan. 2, E923.,

J. W. LIPPINCOTT CONVERTIBLE FALSE FLOOR.

F|1 EO OcT. 9. 1922. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 SMOM/H04L -To all 'whom -et concern:

Patented 2, M9230 andere cartes.

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l Be it known that il, donn-W. Lrrrrnco'rr,

i a citizen ot they United States, residi at Little Roch, inthe county of 'Pulaski and tion of the, invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. rllhis invention relates broadly to improvements in Ventilating freight cars, but has more particular reference to a false floor therefor which is such in construction as to permit it to be converted to provide a partition, whereby to permit loose vegetables and fruits to be piled in the separate compartments thus formed and to a'ord good ventilation to prevent perishing thereof.

rlhe-principal object oi: the invention is to generally improve upon ioors ot this class, by providing one which is extremely simple and inexpensive, practical and lcapable of being readily installed in the car to provide either a partition or ioor as desired.

More specifically speaking, it is another object of the invention to provide a false floor which is composed of a plurality of sections, each of which includes substantially duplicate parts which may be placed in downwardly divergent relation to provide a unique partitionor may be placed close together and suspended from the walls of the car to render each section compact and to dispose it in an entirely out-oi-theway position when not in use.

@ther objects and advantages of the invention will bey apparent during the course of the following description.

ln the accompanying drawings forming a part of this speciication and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure l is a horizontal section of a portion of a Ventilating freight car body showing the improvedl false loor installed therein. Y

Figure 2 is a sectiontaken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing thesections'o the floor disposed to provide the aforesaid partition.- v

Figure t'is a view disclosing the manner of arranging the floor sections in compact form and suspending them inan out-o-'thewaX position onthe side of thecan; i

igure 5. is al section taken on the line Figure 6 is a view similar'to Fig. 3 showmg a slightly modified construction.-

Figure 7 is lan enlarged detailv elevation disclosing `the position of the 'connecting' hook when it .is not in use.

Figure 8 is a detail view showing lthe man ner of maintaining one of the retaining hooks in inoperative position.

lin the drawin s, the letter F designates the main door o a Ventilating freight car and S designates the sides of th'e car which are composed of spaced walls, the end ones of which are formed with openings O which serve a purpose to be herelnater made apparent. v v 1 l The invention, as 'before intimated, resides in the employment of a unique false floor beneath which the cold air circulates.- Although this floor could be constructed. otherwise, it is preferably formed from a plurality of sections each of which is composed of a pair of substantially duplicate parts 1' and 2 which are adapted to be arranged in the same horizontal plane with their inner ends close to one another to provide an even floor upon whichboxed goods and the like maybe placed. Fach of the aforesaid partsis composed of a plurality of transverse slats 3connected together by spaced parallel runners or spacing stri-ps It. ln practice, these spacing strips are preterably bolted tothe slats, but they may be simply nailed if desired. Attention is here directed to the fact that thejoutermost spacing strips of both of the parts andthe innermost of the part 2 are beveled as indicated at the points 5 to serve Va purpose to be hereinafter described. Also, the part 1 is equipped with an additional and inclined spacing strip 6 which is disposedclose to the adjacent strip 4 to ac t in a manner to be later described. f

llt has 'already been indicated that when it is desired -to ship'loose vegetables and fruits and to simply pile them in the car, it is desirable to provide a partition at the center of the car for dividlng it into opposed compartments. Instead of `using an extra partition for this purpose, il have simply constructedv they parts l and 2 of the floor sections as described so that they may be disposed in the downwardly diverging lll@ relation disclosed in Fig. 3 to provide a unique Ventilating partition. By directing attention to this figure, it will be seen that when these parts are thus positioned, the beveled portions of' the then lowerinost spacing strips or runners engage the floor F while the beveled portion of the uppermost strip on the section 2 is disposed between the closely spaced -strips 4 and 6 at. the upper end of the Hoor section 1. rll`he beveled portion of the uppermost strip on the part 2 engages the vlower one of these closely spaced strips and permits the proper relative inclination of the parts. Although it is not essential, pivoted retaining rods 7 are provided, these being connected to the lower portions of the inclined parts and being bent at their outer ends to provide hooks for engagement with eyes 8 secured to the walls lof the car body. lt is to lbe noted that the rods adjacent these hooks .are bent as at 9 to provide seats in which theintermediate spacing runners of the parts 1 and 2 are received when the rods are folded to the ineffective positions disclosed in Fig. 2. I am led to state here that suitable means is provided for maintaining the rods in this position, the means in all instances comprising upstanding pins 10 secured to the intermediate spacing strips, together Awith chains 11 carrying rings 1 2. As seenbetter in Figs. 4 and 8, the rings are designed to be engaged with the hooked ends of the rods and to be slipped over the pins to maintain the rods against undue and undesirable movement when they are not in use.

`When the device is not to be used, such as is the case when it is desired to ship heavy machinery and the like, it is advisable to dispose the several section s of the floor in anv out-of-theway position by simply suspending the two parts of each section from either side wall of the car as illustrated in Fig. 4. In carrying out this end, the part 1 of each floor section is equipped with a small hook 13 designed to be engaged with an eye 14 secured to the wallof the car. As seen in the figure just mentioned, before the part 1 is hooked 'in place, the complemental part 2 is placed between it and the wall of the car as shown so that both parts of each floor section can be arranged in the' compact condition shown. v

In all instances, it is not desirable to emloy the special hooked rods 7 'for maintaining the slatted parts in the divergent relation shown when the device is used as a partition, and in some instances, as seen in Fig. 6, the hooked rods are entirely dispensed with and small studs or the like 15 are secured to the lowermost connecting strips, these studs being designed for reception in the small recesses or sockets 16 formed in the main door of the car. To act in conjunction with the means just described, I also employ additional pivoted hooks 17 which co-act with the eyes 18 toprevent separation of the parts 1 and 2 after they are arranged in the divergent relation shown. I maystate here that by using 7 these hooks and eyes 17 and 18, the lsockets and pins l5 and 16 may be entirely dispensed with. However, to prevent undue shifting of the partition, the construction just specifically described is preferably employed. When this form of partition is collapsedto permit the sections to provide a false floor, it is desirable to maintain the hook 17 in an out-of-the-way position, and by directing attention to Fig. 7, it will be simply driving a nail or the like 19 into the same runner 4 at a point to permit the hook `to be held behind it and against this run-v y ner as clearly shown.

so seen that this result is accomplished by inasmuch as ventilated and vrefri eratorfx' cars are approximately thirty-five .eet in* length, it is desirable, as before inferred to form the false floor of lanumber of sections to promote convenient and easy ashave doubtless been'made apparentand for this reason, a more lengthy description is thought unnecessary. v

I claim:

r sembling and handling. Each section will be approximately seven feet in length. l

From the foregoing description, it is obl p v1. A convertible false floor. for freight l cars comprising a pair of duplicate sections to be -arranged in the same horizontal plane when used as a floor, but'capable of being Iarrangediin divergent relation at the center of the car to form a Ventilating partition.

2. A convertible false floor for freight' cars comprising a pair of sections composed of longitudinal spacingrunners havin spaced transverse slats secured thereto, said sections being capable of being arranged in divergent relation with the-ir top runners en# l gaging one another, and means -for hold-ing the sect-lons in such relation.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, said 'I i means being p-ivoted hooks.

4. In a freight'car, a Ventilating parti-tion comprising a pair of 'divergent sections, longitudinal runnersthe top ones of which are engaged with one another, and separable fastening means for .said sections. e A

5. Aconvertible Ventilating partition for, freight cars comprising a palrof divergent 1 sect-ions having longitudinal strips or runners on their inner faces, the lowermost runners having beveled portions vengaging the floor, and the uppermost runners being engaged to assist in maintaining the sections connected. i

6. The structure set forth in claim 5, together with pivoted hooks for preventing spreading of said sections.

7. ln a Ventilating partition for freight cars, a pair of downwardly diverging sections composed of spaced sla-ts connected to longitudinal runners, and hooks pivoted to said sections, being intended to be conneoted with eyes secured to the car walls.

8. The structure set forth in claim 8, together with means for maintaining the hooks out of the way when the partition is converted into a falsefloor, and also when said sections are suspended from the car walls.

9. A convertible false Hoor for. use in freight cars comprising a. pair of duplicate sections Composed of spaced slats connected by longitudinal spacing runners, the lowermost of which have beveled portions for engaging the floor, the two upper runners on one of said sections being close together and the upper runner on the other -seotion being intended for disposition between them, said last named runners having a beveled portion to permit the relative inclination of sections when used to provide a partition.-

JOHN W. LPPNCOTT. 

